Buckle assembly with safety lock

ABSTRACT

A buckle assembly has a mounting bracket and a safety lock. The mounting bracket has a base and two wings. The mounting bracket has a front through hole, a rear through hole and a first clamping element. The wings are formed on the base. The safety lock is mounted pivotally on the base and has a pivot pin, a locking block and a manipulating lever. The pivot pin is mounted rotatably on the wings. The locking block is formed on the pivot pin and has a second clamping element corresponding to the first clamping element. The manipulating lever is formed on the pivot pin. The safety lock firmly holds a strap on the mounting bracket without inadvertently slipping. Therefore, the buckle assembly has excellent skidproof characteristic

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

1. Field of the Invention

The present invention relates to a buckle assembly with safety lock, and more particularly to a buckle assembly with safety lock that can be mounted on a strap and has excellent skidproof characteristic to prevent inadvertent slip between the strap and the buckle assembly with safety lock so that an article such as a bag connected to the strap would not inadvertently fall off from a user carrying the bag.

2. Description of Related Art

A conventional bag, according to different types such as a single shoulder type, a cross-body type and a back type, has one or more straps. A strap is made by woven fabric, polymer or leather and has a θ-shaped buckle mounted thereon. The buckle has two holes through which the strap is mounted so that a user is able to change a length of the strap by adjusting the buckle.

Although the aforementioned buckle can be adjusted to change the length of the strap, the skidproof characteristic is not excellent. When the user inadvertently pulls the strap, the buckle slips relatively to the strap and changes the length of the strap. The bag connected to the strap is prone to fall down to the ground.

To overcome the shortcomings, the present invention provides a buckle assembly with safety lock to mitigate or obviate the aforementioned problems.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

The main objective of the invention is to provide a buckle assembly with safety lock that may be mounted on a strap and has excellent skidproof characteristic to prevent inadvertent slip between the strap and the buckle assembly with safety lock so that an article such as a bag connected to the strap would not inadvertently fall off from a user carrying the bag.

A buckle assembly in accordance with the present invention comprises a mounting bracket and a safety lock. The mounting bracket has a base and two wings. The mounting bracket has a front through hole, a rear through hole and a first clamping element. The wings are formed on the base. The safety lock is mounted pivotally on the base and has a pivot pin, a locking block and a manipulating lever. The pivot pin is mounted rotatably on the wings. The locking block is formed on the pivot pin and has a second clamping element corresponding to the first clamping element. The manipulating lever is formed on the pivot pin. The safety lock firmly holds a strap on the mounting bracket without inadvertently slipping. Therefore, the buckle assembly has excellent skidproof characteristic.

Other objectives, advantages and novel features of the invention will become more apparent from the following detailed description when taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of a buckle assembly with safety lock in accordance with the present invention;

FIG. 2 is an operational perspective view of the buckle assembly with safety lock in FIG. 1;

FIG. 3 is an exploded perspective view of the buckle assembly with safety lock in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is an operational cross sectional side view of the buckle assembly with safety lock in FIG. 2 with a strap mounted therethrough;

FIG. 5 is an operational cross sectional side view of the buckle assembly with safety lock in FIG. 4 with the strap clamped by the buckle assembly with safety lock; and

FIG. 6 is a further operational cross sectional side view of the buckle assembly with safety lock in FIG. 5 with the strap further clamped by the buckle assembly with safety lock.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT

With reference to FIGS. 1 to 3, a buckle assembly with safety lock in accordance with the present invention comprises a mounting bracket 10 and a safety lock 20.

The mounting bracket 10 has a base 11 and two wings 13.

With further reference to FIG. 4, the base 11 has a front through hole 115, a rear through hole 116 and a first clamping element 111. The front through hole 115 is defined through a front edge of the base 11. The rear through hole 116 is defined through a rear edge of the base 11. A strap 90 is mounted through the front through hole 115 and the rear through hole 116 of the base 11. The first clamping element 111 is formed on a top surface of the base 11 between the front through hole 115 and the rear through hole 116, and has a front end close to the front edge of the base 11 and a rear end close to a rear edge of the base 11. The first clamping element 111 is inclined relative to the top surface of the base 11 and rises gradually from the front end to the rear end such that the rear end of the first clamping element 111 is higher than the front end of the first clamping element 111. Furthermore, the first clamping element 111 has multiple clamping teeth.

The wings 13 are formed on and protrude upward respectively from two opposite sides of the base 11, and each wing 13 has a pivot hole 131. The pivot hole 131 is defined through the wing 13 and may be an elongated hole substantially parallel to the top surface of the base 11.

The safety lock 20 is pivotally mounted on the mounting bracket 10 and has a pivot pin 21, a locking block 22 and a manipulating lever 23.

The pivot pin 21 is mounted rotatably between the wings 13 of the mounting bracket 10 and has two opposite ends 211 rotatably and slidably mounted respectively in the pivot holes 131 of the wings 13.

The locking block 22 is formed on and protrudes radially from the pivot pin 21 and has a distal side and a second clamping element 221. The distal side is opposite to the pivot pin 21. The second clamping element 221 is formed on the distal side, corresponds to the first clamping element 21, and has multiple clamping teeth.

The manipulating lever 23 is formed on and protrudes radially from the pivot pin 21, is substantially perpendicular to the locking block 22, and may have an auxiliary clamping protrusion 24 formed on and protruding from the manipulating lever 23. When the safety lock 20 is pivoted to make the manipulating lever 23 parallel to the base 11 of the mounting bracket 10, the auxiliary clamping protrusion 24 faces the top surface of the base 11 such that a distance between the auxiliary clamping protrusion 24 and the top surface of the base 11 is decreased.

With further reference to FIG. 5, when the safety lock 20 is pivoted to make the manipulating lever 23 parallel to the base 11 of the mounting bracket 10, the second clamping element 221 faces the first clamping element 111 such that a distance between the second clamping element 221 and the first clamping element 111 is decreased. The strap 90 mounted through the first through hole 115 and the second through hole 116 is flat against the top surface of the base 11 and therefore is clamped by the first clamping element 111 and the second clamping element 221. Thus, the tightly clamped strap 90 is not allowed to slip relative to the mounting bracket 10 and the safety lock 20. Furthermore, the auxiliary clamping protrusion 24 also cooperates with the top surface of the base 11 to clamp and keep the strap 90 from inadvertently slipping.

With further reference to FIG. 6, the safety lock parallel to the top surface of the base 11 of the mounting bracket 10 further slides from the front through hole 115 to the rear through hole 11, and the ends 211 of the pivot pin 21 simultaneously slide respectively in the pivot holes 131 of the wings 13, thereby moving the second clamping element 221 to the higher rear end of the first clamping element 111 close to the rear through hole 116. Therefore, the distance between the second clamping element 221 and the first clamping element 111 is further decreased, and the clamping force cooperatively exerted by the second clamping element 221 and the first clamping element 111 is stronger to keep the strap 90 unmovable relative to the buckle assembly.

The safety lock 20 firmly holds the strap 90 on the mounting bracket 10 without inadvertently slipping. Therefore, the buckle assembly has excellent skidproof characteristic.

Even though numerous characteristics and advantages of the present invention have been set forth in the foregoing description, together with details of the structure and function of the invention, the disclosure is illustrative only. Changes may be made in the details, especially in matters of shape, size, and arrangement of parts within the principles of the invention to the full extent indicated by the broad general meaning of the terms in which the appended claims are expressed. 

What is claimed is:
 1. A buckle assembly comprising: a mounting bracket having a base having a front through hole defined through a front edge of the base; a rear through hole defined through a rear edge of the base; and a first clamping element formed on a top surface of the base and having a front end and a rear end; and two wings formed on and protruding upward respectively from two opposite sides of the base; and a safety lock pivotally mounted on the mounting bracket and having a pivot pin mounted rotatably between the wings of the mounting bracket; a locking block formed on and protruding radially from the pivot pin and having a distal side and a second clamping element formed on the distal side and corresponding to the first clamping element; and a manipulating lever formed on and protruding radially from the pivot pin; wherein when the safety lock is pivoted to make the manipulating lever parallel to the base of the mounting bracket, the second clamping element faces the first clamping element such that a distance between the second clamping element and the first clamping element is decreased.
 2. The buckle assembly as claimed in claim 1, wherein each wing has a pivot hole defined through the wing; and the pivot pin has two opposite ends rotatably mounted respectively in the pivot holes of the wings.
 3. The buckle assembly as claimed in claim 2, wherein the front end of the first clamping element is close to the front edge of the base, and the rear end of the first clamping element is close to the rear edge of the base; the first clamping element is inclined relative to the top surface of the base and rises gradually from the front end to the rear end such that the rear end of the first clamping element is higher than the front end of the first clamping element; the pivot hole of each wing is an elongated hole being substantially parallel to the top surface of the base; the ends of the pivot pin are rotatably and slidably mounted respectively in the pivot holes of the wings; wherein the safety lock parallel to top surface of the base of the mounting bracket is able to further slide from the front through hole to the rear through hole and the ends of the pivot pin simultaneously slide respectively in the pivot holes of the wings, thereby moving the second clamping element to the rear end of the first clamping element close to the rear through hole; therefore the distance between the second clamping element and the first clamping element is further decreased.
 4. The buckle assembly as claimed in claim 3, wherein the manipulating lever is substantially perpendicular to the locking block.
 5. The buckle assembly as claimed in claim 4, wherein the manipulating lever has an auxiliary clamping protrusion formed on and protruding from the manipulating lever; when the safety lock is pivoted to make the manipulating lever parallel to the base of the mounting bracket, the auxiliary clamping protrusion faces the top surface of the base such that a distance between the auxiliary clamping protrusion and the top surface of the base is decreased.
 6. The buckle assembly as claimed in claim 5, wherein the first clamping element is formed between the front through hole and the rear through hole.
 7. The buckle assembly as claimed in claim 6, wherein the first clamping element has multiple clamping teeth; and the second clamping element has multiple clamping teeth. 